by Juniper Gray
Therse thought of the night before, of how everything between them had finally come to a head, and smiled to himself. He'd done the worst, most unthinkable thing—he'd let Gen in. Let him get close and let himself get close to Gen in return, and now he was more vulnerable than ever.
But that was okay. In one night, Gen had taught him that by walling everyone out, he was just escaping his own happiness.
He'd been frightened for a long, long time. Gotten used to living like that. Spent most of his life ducking and hiding from other people's affections, keeping them at arm's length in case he ended up getting hurt. But now that he'd gotten a taste of what it felt like to be happy, Therse wasn't afraid any more.
He brushed some of Gen's long mess of hair back from his face, leaning forward to kiss him feather-soft on the lips. Gen stirred beneath him, and after a beat of orienting himself, Therse felt him push back into the kiss with the slightest of satisfied sighs.
Therse pulled back, and they gazed at one another. “Morning,” Therse said.
“Hey,” Gen smiled.
Therse combed fingertips tenderly through Gen's messy blond hair as Gen watched him.
“So, you're finally going to Command, huh?”
Therse stopped, and met Gen's gaze. He stroked his hand guiltily along Gen's shoulder in small circular motions. “Yeah.”
“How long do we have here?”
“Just under four weeks.”
“Four weeks,” Gen echoed, rolling the words around as though they were the name of some beautiful woman. “Should be enough to make up for lost time. Then you can bugger off without feeling guilty for leaving me.”
“Oh, can I?”
“I allow you.”
Therse's head dropped back into the pillow, and a grin fixed his features. “You're such a shit; why the hell did I sleep with you?”
“I always did say you had poor judgment.”
“You realize saying that reflects badly on you.”
“I can live with that,” Gen said.
Therse prodded him in the side and he sprang into a defensive stance, trying his best to look menacing under the duvet. Then his expression softened into a smile, and he looked away.
“What?” Therse asked him.
“I dunno, I just,” Gen muttered, tilting his head so that his hair fell forward again, covering his eyes.
“What? What is it?”
“I don't want to say, you'll just laugh.”
“Try me.” Therse brushed Gen's hair away over his forehead.
His expression was that of a child who doesn't want to learn something disappointing.
“Do you think I'll make a good officer?”
That took Therse by surprise. “Of course, why wouldn't I?”
“I don't know, it...it just seems like everyone's taking off, and I'm still stuck on the launch strip. Forever waiting to fly but never quite making it.”
“You'll launch when you're ready,” Therse said. “You don't have to be so afraid of growing up, you know. Once you take off, that's when the fun really starts.”
“I think I'm afraid I might crash and burn.” Gen stroked Therse's cheek, and he was hard in an instant.
“You won't. You'll fly just as high as the rest of us.”
Gen's fingertip ran along Therse's jaw. “You know, I'm almost glad you forced me into a seven-week voyage without cryosleep.”
Therse nipped at the pad of Gen's wandering finger and raised his eyebrows. “'Almost'?”
“Yeah. And by the way, you never answered my question.”
“Huh? Oh...” He leant up on one elbow and cleared his throat. “I think you're an annoying, grating, infuriatingly stubborn bastard —”
“That wasn't part of any question I asked.”
“Then,” Therse looked down at Gen, wrapped in his sheets, wrapped in him, and smiled from a deeper place. Then he finally uttered the words he'd waited nearly five years to say. “...yes. I'm in love with you.”
“Better.”
“Ass.”
“Jerk.”
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* * *
EPILOGUE
Malam Kenes and Byrn Dofe sat side by side in the shuttle waiting lounge. They'd been there almost an hour now, in the empty, forgotten region of the station hub, and Byrn was beginning to get restless.
Mal reached over to him with an offer of some salted snack, not looking away from her screen for a second. “Want one?” she asked, jigging the packet so the contents rustled about.
“Nah, I'm good.”
“Suit yourself.” She popped another one in her own mouth.
He scrutinized the wrapper in her hand, nose wrinkling in disgust. “Do you have any idea what those are?”
“Pieces of pig skin, first boiled then fried.” She crunched one loudly, shooting him a lecherous gaze. “Delicious.”
He stared back at her flatly. “When the hell are they going to get here? They're already an hour late.”
“Do I look like the public announcement service? Just relax, they'll be here eventually.”
Byrn sighed and folded his arms across his broad chest. He imagined the two of them alone in the waiting area must look like an odd sight—Mal was no puny weakling by any means, but he was at least twice her weight and a full foot taller than her. Then he noticed Mal studying him. “What?”
“You've missed them; that's sweet.”
“No more than you, I reckon, given that you're here as well.”
“Eh,” she shrugged, and returned to reading her screen. Byrn had been unfortunate enough to peer over her shoulder to see what she was reading earlier.
“I really wish you wouldn't read graphic porn in public,” he muttered.
He immediately regretted it. She got that look she did when you were about to be put in your place in a way you'd never see coming. “I'm terribly sorry,” she said, smoothly. “Do I embarrass you?”
He thought about it for a moment. “I'd prefer not to answer that.”
“Good call.”
The door at the end of the white corridor hissed open, and arrivals were announced over the tannoy. From behind the circular roll-door, the familiar shapes of Therse and Gen appeared, somewhat more amicably than Mal might have expected after such a long cruise with only each other for company. She narrowed her eyes as Byrn got to his feet to meet them, then realized, snorting with amusement and flipping her screen away as she stood.
“What?” Byrn asked her, turning back.
“So they finally fucked. Took them long enough.”
He watched her go. “What the hell are you talking about?”
][Terminal Regret (formerly Jetty)]
Hello.
][Terminal Regret (formerly Jetty)]
Hello.
[[Weapons Grade]
All right already. What do you want?
][Terminal Regret (formerly Jetty)]
I just thought you might like to know that your Commander's social experiment was a success.
[[Weapons Grade]
Oh, he will be thrilled. Not as thrilled as he could have been had he gotten to bask in the light of his success in situ, but that man is spoiled enough as it is. Wait—tell me, why are you passing this on at all? I didn't think you were interested in the dealings of lowly humans.
][New Eden (formerly Terminal Regret, formerly Jetty)]
I never thought of them as lowly, I just refused to be further involved in their affairs after one bad experience too many. I ditched my crew and took off for a while until they finally caught up with me—it was either this or get scrapped so it's not like I had a choice. After that I kept my distance from people. But I've enjoyed watching these two, they're different than the humans I was used to. Nice to see how they've both grown since I last saw them. If they can change so much, maybe there's hope after all.
It's been fun. I might even go and ask for my old job back.
END
* * *
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